"I don't know, Mother," he lent. Again his ears slicked back against his skull. He had nothing else to say about it, this sudden lack of confidence and desire to become Willow Ridge's highest-ranking male. Perhaps, he truly was a like a tot with a toy; just because he couldn't have it he wanted it and vice versa. What made it all worse, was the lingering presence of his uncle, Nicolo. Like any family whose business and relations came from something akin to old money, Skoll had to be nothing but respectful and ever-patient if he wanted his share of the inheritance. It had all become one long waiting game. Elettra, he was so certain would live for a long time yet, but Nicolo... perhaps not.
"Then make me proud, Skoll..." her voice washed over him like a warm summer rain, cool yet comforting all the same. She, like Morganna, always knew what to say. "Protect your home, your family..." she confided. "You can't stand by and let Willow Ridge crumble. It should only go down if we want it to go down, not because someone else ruined it." It was just enough to stoke his inner fire. How long this confidence would last, he was not so sure but he would be damned if he let the embers of it die out in the darkness of his heart. For as long as he could remember Willow Ridge had always been his to protect - if it was not his, it was his mother's or his sister's or his brother's or his son's...
"Always," the second-born offered, averted eyes flitting across the ground and towards his mother's paws so that the rest of him might follow to give Elettra's chin a gentle nudge with the bridge of his nose. As if to confirm this, he repeated it again, his voice a little more steadier and assertive than before. "Always."